PETROENERGY Resources Corp. disclosed on Wednesday the acquisition by a Thai company of the 40% stake held by a Singaporean private equity firm in the listed power developer’s wind energy project in Nabas, Aklan.
PetroEnergy told the local bourse that the acquisition by BCPG Public Co. Ltd. of the stake owned by CapAsia Asean Wind Holdings Cooperatief UA was formally signed on May 16.

The unit, PetroWind Energy, Inc., has a 36-megawatt wind power project on the Western Visayas island called Nabas-1 Wind Power Project under a joint venture with Singapore-based CapAsia (40%), EEI Power Corp. (20%) and PetroGreen Energy Corp. (40%). PetroGreen is a 90%-owned subsidiary of PetroEnergy.

“We welcome BCPG into our network of esteemed partners, as our new shareholder in [PetroWind],” said Milagros V. Reyes, president of PetroEnergy and PetroWind. “We believe that their track record and management expertise will bring greater value to our business,” she added.

BCPG, along with existing the PetroWind shareholders, signed a new shareholders’ agreement governing the company, PetroEnergy said.

Charnvit Trangadisaikul, BCPG senior vice-president, said: “This investment marks our first presence in the Philippines. We are very confident that the partnership between BCPG and PetroGreen would open up a lot of growth opportunities for all partners, both here and in the region.”

He said BCPG was looking forward to expand its investment in renewable energy in the Philippines “and promote sustainability for the country.”

BCPG’s parent company is Thailand-based Bangchak Corp., which is engaged in oil refinery operation and marketing the finished products through its service stations. The company operates three business segments, namely: refinery, marketing and renewable energy in Thailand and globally.

Craig Martin, CapAsia co-chief executive officer, said its participation in the Nabas-1 wind power project had been a successful investment for the firm’s fund.

The P4.5-billion wind facility is made up of 18 wind turbine generators supplied by Gamesa Corporación Tecnológica. The turbines were erected at elevations of 300-500 meters in the foothills of northern Aklan. They straddle the municipalities of Nabas and Malay.

Perc announced on Monday that PGEC reached the 1-billion generation mark on December 2, earlier than expected.

“The early achievement of this generation milestone, despite the relatively short period of the plants’ commercial operation and their modest capacities, owe to the efficient operation by our teams and the good availability of the units to the grid,” PERC President Milagros V. Reyes said.

“We are delighted by this milestone not only for our shareholders and Pgec partners but also for their contribution in reducing wholesale electricity spot market [Wesm] prices, as their must-dispatch character displaces more expensive fossil-fired plants in the Wesm dispatch order,” Reyes added.

PGEC’s power production comes from three RE plants: the 20-megawatt (MW) Maibarara-1 geothermal plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas; the 36-MW Nabas-1 wind project in Aklan; and the 50-MW DC Tarlac-1 solar facility in Tarlac City.

Beginning from their respective commercial operation date—February 8, 2014, for the Maibarara geothermal, June 10, 2015, for the Nabas wind and February 10, 2016, for Tarlac-1—these three facilities contributed 62.52 percent, 23.78 percent, and 13.70 percent, respectively, to the aggregate 1-billion-kWh output reached on December 2.

PGEC currently supplies 8.4 percent of wind power and 5.94 percent of solar capacities in the country. MGI’s expected commissioning of the 12-MW Maibarara-2 unit this December will bring the field’s total gross capacity to 32 MW. PGEC plans to develop an additional 400 MW of renewable-energy capacity in the next five years.

PERC Assistant Vice President Maria Victoria Olivar said that the company’s oil operations also achieved a milestone.

“Total oil production in the Etame Marin block in offshore Gabon, West Africa, reached 100 million barrels on June 10, 2017, from the start of commercial oil extraction in 2002. Crude-oil production from 12 wells continues unabated in the block’s four oil fields—Etame, Avouma, Ebouri and North Tchibala.”

At end-September this year, Perc posted a 103-percent increase in its total consolidated income amounting to $7.71 million, compared to $3.81 million during the same period in 2016. The net income attributed to PetroEnergy equity holders increased by 227 percent, from $1.28 million in 2016 to $4.18 million in 2017.

The increases in net income and income attributed to equity holders of PERC were mainly driven by the efficient operation of PERC’s three RE projects.

The efficient operations resulted to an increase in the net income of the operating companies: 58 percent for MGI, 25 percent for PSC and 8 percent for PWEI compared to the similar period in 2016.

Slightly higher average crude-oil prices also contributed to the profit increase, with average price reaching $50.35 per barrel for the third quarter compared to $38.08 in the same period last year.

PETROENERGY Resources Corp. on Friday said its geothermal power unit had secured approval to participate in the wholesale electricity spot market (WESM), paving the way for its commercial operation.

Philippine Electricity Market Corp. (PEMC), which operates the spot market, gave its nod on Dec. 7, 2017 for Maibarara Geothermal Inc. (MGI), which sought the registration of its 12-megawatt (MW) expansion of its geothermal facility in Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

PEMC earlier included Maibarara-2 in its market network model, allowing the facility’s dispatch to be accurately monitored in the spot market.

“The completion of these two critical WESM and grid connection requirements is a significant milestone for MGI as these are technical prerequisites for eventual commercial operations.” MGI President F. G. Delfin, Jr. told the stock exchange.

MGI is a joint venture of PetroGreen Energy Corp. with a 65% stake, Phinma Energy Corp. with 25%, and PNOC Renewables Corp. with 10%. PGEC is the renewable energy holding company of publicly listed PetroEnergy.

Dave P. Gadiano, PetroGreen head of energy trading, said the WESM registration of Maibarara-2 clears the way for the facility to export power to the grid during the commissioning stage.

“The testing and commissioning of Maibarara-2 is estimated to start by middle of December. Export of power to the grid is expected soon after commissioning starts,” he said in a statement.

MGI’s expected commissioning of the Maibarara-2 unit will bring the field’s total gross capacity to 32 MW. Maibarara-1 started commercial operation on Feb. 8, 2014.

The recent PEMC approvals came after MGI successfully installed and tested, with power grid operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) the remote terminal unit and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system of Maibarara-2 on Nov. 15.

On Nov. 18, MGI completed with Japan’s Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., the target plate testing of Maibarara-2’s steam, a pre-commissioning activity in which the quality of the steam that will pass through the turbine blades is assessed.

PETROENERGY Resources Corp. has set the price of its stock rights offering at P4.8 per share, a discount over its average price in a 10-day trading period, the company said on Monday.

The Yuchengco-led company said the proceeds of the rights offering will fund renewable energy projects as well as general corporate purposes.

PetroEnergy is offering stockholders one rights share for every 2.6 common shares held as of record date of Jan. 12, 2018. It is offering 157,975,512 shares, which could fetch about P758 million given the final offer price.

The start of the rights offer period is on Jan. 22 and will end on Jan. 26, 2018.

At P4.80 per share, the final offer price was set at a 20% discount over the P6 per share volume weighted average of PetroEnergy for the 10-day trading day period from Dec. 19, 2017 up to Jan. 5, 2018, the company said.